Commentary: RSD Provides Best Hope for N.O. Schools

By Singletary, Mark

Paul Pastorek, state schools superintendent, and Paul Vallas, Recovery School District superintendent, talked candidly about our schools at a presentation last week sponsored by the New Orleans Business Council and the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce.

The topic for their one-hour presentation: “Planning for the future of school facilities in Orleans Parish.” Both are polished, professional speakers and their subject matter is compelling and very, very important.

Pastorek set the stage with background information. Some of it was interesting, some trivial and some breathtaking.

First the interesting and trivial.

Seventy schools in Orleans Parish have been rehabilitated, renovated or are working out of modular buildings. The schools have been rebuilt using money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and community development block grants, which are one-time funds designated to help rebuild schools.

Pastorek then outlined a construction plan for several new campuses in New Orleans, most with plans and budgets nearly complete.

The men then told the group we must figure out how to sustain the schools after the one-time funds are used.

It is important to remember the Recovery School System is in charge of failed schools taken away from the Orleans Parish School Board. The OPSB is still in charge of five “successful” schools and oversees several charter schools. These schools were successful even before Katrina because they were designed as magnet schools with selective entrance requirements and committed community support.

The RSD inherited the deplorable schools.

Pastorek said 85 percent of the children in the RSD system are still more than two years behind their grade level. That means eighth-graders are struggling to read fifth- and sixth-grade books. That means high school students aren’t studying algebra and geometry; they are taking remedial classes on simple punctuation and ciphering.

These students aren’t thinking about college; they are thinking about dropping out. They aren’t thinking about political science; they are too busy thinking about their next meal and a safe walk home from school.

Given these dire statistics, it’s important to hear Pastorek’s words: “We must believe these kids can succeed,” he said with passion.

Pastorek set the stage for Vallas, whose job spelled out the where, when, what and why we must build better facilities and with better programs for the school children of New Orleans.

Vallas spoke earnestly to the business people in the audience. He told us the hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government is prepared to spend on our schools must be spent wisely. He told us the new schools of New Orleans must prepare these unprepared students for a different world.

He spoke of a commitment within the RSD to develop campuses stressing vocational training, military discipline and work-study initiatives.

Then he showed us the plans. He showed us architectural renderings of new schools in Gentilly, eastern New Orleans and Broadmoor. He showed us projections of construction costs, work schedules and a promise to take care of the facilities once they are operational.

He has a plan.

Unfortunately, a big part of his plan’s success will depend on a cooperative spirit from the Orleans Parish School Board. Vallas and Pastorek talked of an “appropriate consolidation” of RSD and OPS resources to ensure academic success in New Orleans.

Vallas then pleaded for the business community to support the changes within his initiatives.

He told us he’s been managing failed school systems back to health for quite some time. His record of success stretches from Chicago to Philadelphia and hopefully to New Orleans. He speaks confidently about programs that will work if given the chance.

Vallas, backed by Pastorek, spoke diplomatically about the possibilities of cooperation and success with the existing Orleans Parish School Board. It was the only time during their presentation when their confidence seemed hollow.

Whether or not these two men are willing to say it, the business community needs to lead the effort that will wrest control of the existing Orleans Parish schools away from the OPSB and put them in the only place where there is any hope of long-term success — within the RSD.

Credit: Mark Singletary

(Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires)

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